


Regret

by confettiinmyhair



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 02:31:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6781795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confettiinmyhair/pseuds/confettiinmyhair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quiet moment in the Smithsonian, after the crisis has finally been averted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regret

He was leaned against the rail, using it and his good leg to keep his weight off his bad leg, his gaze sweeping over the huge glimmering cylinder before him.  
The Hubble telescope wasn’t even the size of a Jaeger’s shin segment, but seeing it up close (finally, after all this time) was wondrous, even if it was only a model.

He sensed rather than saw Newton sidle up to him, and said nothing. Newton, for once, followed suit, if only for a few minutes.

He rubbed his palms against his forearms, leaned forward against the rail so he could feel it pressing against his ribs, and for once, he was the first to speak.

“I was going to do that, you know. I didn’t always want to stand around staring at numbers all day.”

“Build telescopes?”

“No, moron. Go to space. I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Not that Germany was doing much worth a damn once the Wall came down, of course.”

In lieu of speaking, he cut his gaze at Newton sidelong. The man shrugged back at him, and he spoke again.

“I remember when I saw the images on television, after they fixed the mirror the first time. I wanted to go to space so badly, wanted to be as close as possible to all of it. God forbid we strap a cripple into a flight suit, though.”

He paused for a moment, to let Newton retort if he felt the need. He knew that this might have come through in the drift, that Newton might already know, but he appreciated being allowed to say it. When no response came, he went on.

“And then there was the Rift, and we… and we figured it out, and we knew what was on the other side, and we have the readings of the passage itself from the escape pods' computers. And I…”

He could feel Newton looking at him, and he pressed his forehead against his hands for a moment before he cleared his throat.

“If you think you’re the only one who’s secretly bitter the invasion ended, you’re mistaken,” he said, taking his cane from where it rested next to him on the rail, and made his way toward the elevators, not bothering to see if Newton was following.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't remember, at this point, if it's in the novelization or just a piece of tumblr fanon, that Hermann only got into astrophysics because he couldn't actually go to space.
> 
> At any rate, the inspiration for this little snippet hit me during a trip to the Air and Space Museum in DC a few months after the movie came out.
> 
> It was originally posted on my Tumblr, [here](http://hoverboardbandit.tumblr.com/post/57819828877).


End file.
